Richard Gasquet prevails over Jurgen Melzer in the first round – Internazionali BNL d’Italia 2012
World number 22, Richard Gasquet of France, faced limited difficulty in routing Austria’s 31st ranked, Jurgen Melzer, in straight sets 6-1, 7-6(6) in the opener at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome, Italy on Tuesday.
Gasquet required an hour and 40 minutes to claim victory over the Austrian.
The Frenchman made the best possible start, breaking Melzer twice and grabbing opening five games to gain a 5-0 advantage. Melzer hit a couple of big serves and succeeded in holding his serve to open his account but dropped the
following game to lose the first set 1-6.
Gasquet smacked one ace but he had a below average first serve percentage of 55. The Frenchman, though, did very well on the conversion rate, clinching 10 of the 12 points on the first deliveries and six of the 10 second delivery
points. In comparison, Melzer had the same first serve percentage of 55 but won just eight of the 12 points on them. The Austrian fared poorly on the second serves, losing eight of the 10 points on them in the opener.
The Frenchman and Austrian did not allow each other to break in the first five games of the second set, taking the score to 3-2 in the latter’s favour. Melzer struck in the sixth and consolidated on it to attain a 5-2 lead. Afterwards,
Gasquet snatched three straight games, levelling the score at 5-5. The set was taken into a tie-breaker, as both players held their serve to square it off at 6-6. None of the two contenders was willing to give other the advantage, as they went neck to neck
to take the score to 6-6 in the tie-breaker. However, Gasquet drew the final blood, claiming two consecutive points to triumph 7-6(6).
The 25-year-old pounded four aces but also committed two double faults in the second set. He kept his first delivery percentage at 60, pocketing 19 of the 26 points on them. The right-hander kept attacking his opponent’s second
serves, as he converted 12 of the 22 of them into points. Gasquet put away two of the three break points he faced and converted one of the three he received.
The Frenchman is drawn to face Italy’s wild card entrant, Paolo Lorenzi, in the round of 32. Lorenzi bounced back after getting thrashed in the second set to down former world number three, Nikolay Davydenko, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 in the
first round.
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